Friday, 13 May 2016

A Teddy Bear Picnic

I sit with a half cup of coffee beside me, sadly though it has gone cold, writing my first blog post. With having no idea what to write about I begin with an ending, poetic right?

As well as being a PhD student every Thursday night I run a youth group for girls aged 5-7. We call it The Buttercups an adorable name to match the cuteness of the girls who attend, I believe. Usually our typical night consists of registration followed by games, arts and crafts then a lively song to end the night before the girls' parents come to take them home. The girls are always full of joy and eager to come back the next week.The parents? They are usually a little more subdued having enjoyed an hour or so of peace and quiet!

But last night, our last night for the summer, was a bit different!

As it was the last night we like to celebrate the year with a party for the girls. Our themes have ranged from pyjama parties to Disney princess parties but this year we opted for a Teddy Bear Picnic. The night started with the girls arriving with their favourite teddy greeted with the leaders and their teddy bears of course! Before all the fun and games could begin we sat in a big circle and introduced our special guests to everyone. After all The Buttercups is about making friends. We then moved on to our first game: Musical Bears. Similar to musical chairs the game consisted of the leaders subjecting the girls to music from our childhood as they danced amongst the bears racing to pick one up when the music stopped..can't beat a bit of 'Steps, 5 6 7 8'! At The Buttercups we don't like the girls feeling left out so when a girl got put out of the game they were treated with a sweet. Sugar always hides the pang of defeat no matter what age. The festivities then moved onto Pass the Bear...sadly us leaders are very attached to our teddy bears so the winning girl didn't get to keep the teddy but it is the taking part that counts. The girls then got to dance with their bears when we played the Macarena, I think this was more for the nostalgic benefit of the leaders but hey even the leaders deserve a party. The games finished up with a teddy bear hunt and some parachute games.

After all the fun and games I think the girls, well the leaders mostly, needed a rest and what better way than to sit down and have some food and drink. It is a teddy bear picnic after all! The girls enjoyed some lovely jam sandwiches prepared by yours truly, snacked on some sweets and crisps all washed done with a refreshing cup of juice. The bears enjoyed the food too!

The night was full of fun and happiness but endings do have their sad elements. Saying goodbye to the girls who unfortunately won't be returning after the summer break. We gave out gifts, hugs and kind words as we remembered years of memories they created. I will admit there was a few tears. All in all the night was a success with only one teddy having to make a trip to the vet for an emergency ear fixing! Looking forward to September when the remaining girls return and hopefully with a few new faces.

Awww that is such a cute idea and I'm sure the girls (as well as the parents) really appreciate all the effort that goes into organising and running Buttercups. I thought it was so lovely that when a girl got put out of a game they were given a sweet - that's such a nice touch.

Sounds like you and the girls at The Buttercups had great fun. I like that you adapted the musical chairs game. I never liked it because I, being visually impaired, was often first to be put out of the game. Glad you gave the girls a treat for comfort in that case.